The Unexpected Night
by OrangE300
Summary: Eri finally found Harima but not the way she expected it to be
1. Chapter 1

It was already 11 pm and Harima just finish his shift for today. He was so happy to get his paycheck of the month and thinking about giving himself a treat at the bar not far from his work place. It had been a couple of months since he arrived at this small town. At first, he was thinking of staying there only for a few days but then he was attracted to the peacefulness and beauty of the town and decided to live there. He found himself a small apartment and a job. He had been traveled since Tenma went to Karasuma to America and Harima's heart had never been broken before. He went to many places, hoping that someday his heart will be healed. It took him many years until finally he could accept that Tenma chose Karasuma over him. Sometimes, he did remembered her but it was just good memories of the two of them. She was his first love and he knew that it was not easy for him to forget even after his heart is owned to someone else in the future.

The bar was only 15 minutes walk from his work place. He came there often and got to know the bartender a.k.a owner of the bar pretty well. He told the bartender about almost all of his life stories. About how is he fallen in love with Tenma, how she always misunderstood things and end up with a lot of troubles, how he always thought that Tenma was also in love with him but she loved Karasuma instead, how his heart was broken and start to draw manga, how he had a fight with Karasuma when Karasuma dumped Tenma because of his sickness. He always talked about Tenma until recently, he felt that the bartender was bored of his story of Tenma and started to tell him about his other friends. Yakumo, who is a great cook and used to be his manga assistant, Hanai, who always want to pick a fight with him, Eri, a rich girl with a high pride but had help him from become a delinquent like he used to be. Harima also told the bartender about how he had to be Eri's fake fiancée just to get her out from her arranged marriage, she shaved his hair to bald, he accidentally confessed to her and get a kick after that, how they both went out and realized they didn't brought any money. Then Harima realized he talked so much about Eri lately. He kept thinking about her until sometimes got frustrated with it. Why she kept popping out of my head, he thought. He tried to ignore it and thought it was nothing until he went to the bar that night.

As he stepped into the bar, there were only a few people as usual. Only four or five people sat at the table and one girl was sitting on his favorite place at the counter. Under the dim light, he saw the girl had a shiny golden, long hair with his head on the counter facing sideways. She looked thin, wearing a black short-sleeves T-shirt and a pair of tight jeans. Her hand was holding a big bottle of tequila. "Welcome," the bartender said.

"Who is she? She's sitting at my place," Harima sounded angry.

"She's a traveler looking for her friend. She was very upset when she came here and ordered that bottle of tequila," the bartender explained.

Harima didn't care. He didn't care how upset she is. He wanted his sit back.

"Hey, missy. You're sitting at my place. Get up," Harima patted the girl's shoulder.

"First come first serve, mister," the girl said, turning his head to face Harima.

Harima was so surprised and almost fell. He recognized her, that golden eyes, that beautiful face, just without the pigtails she used to have in high school. It was that girl, Sawachika Eri, the girl that was in his head lately.

"Ojou!" He realized that he said it very loud as the people in the bar suddenly turned to him.

"Sorry, everybody. Just continue with what you were doing," he apologized.

"Eh~?? Hige~?" the girl said while staring at Harima.

_Oh no, she recognized me. I don't want to meet anybody from my past at this moment._

The girl stared at Harima's frightened face for a few minutes. Then she said, "You're not Hige. You don't even have a hige. And you're not wearing any sunglasses,"

She was right. Harima didn't have his beard and moustache anymore because that will remind him of Tenma. He didn't even wear his sunglasses and his hair was short and spike. She must be really drunk, he thought. He was sure of it by looking at the bottle of tequila that almost emptied.

"Sorry. My bad. I thought you're my friend. Sit here. Order what you want. My treat. Mr. Waiter~~," she said and waving to the bartender.

"It's okay. I'll pay it myself,"

"Don't be shy. Come on. Don't want a girl to treat you, huh?" she put her hand around Harima's neck.

"It's not like that," he said while removing her hand. "I just don't like some strangers to treat me without any reason."

"Eh~? You're no fun. Mr. Waiter~, one more bottle of tequila please~," she then finished up the one that she was holding.

Harima ordered his usual and watched Eri drank that tequila like she was drinking a bottle of mineral water. He thought of leaving after finishing his drink, but with all the questions in his mind, he can't leave just yet.

"What are you doing here?" Harima questioned Eri.

"Drinking. Can't you see what I am doing right now?" she replied, finishing the tequila she ordered minutes ago.

"No, I mean, what are you doing here in this town? Business or something?"

"Oh no. I was looking for my friend. I heard he was here. I even thought I saw him this afternoon at the market. I tried to chase him but he just disappeared. Stupid me, haha,"

_Is she looking for me? Nah, it can't be. I'm more like her enemy than a friend_. "So, this friend of yours, he's a guy right? What happen to him? He went missing?"

"Nah, he ran away from reality. A girl broke his heart and he can't accept it. That selfish jerk Hige! He was damned slow. He didn't even know that someone else cares about him too. Stupid, stupid, stupid Harima Kenji!" she was very loud especially on the 'stupid' part.

_Harima Kenji? That's me right? Does this mean she was looking for me? But why?_ "You were looking for me…I mean this Harima guy, why?" Harima was afraid to ask this but it seemed that his curiosity won over his cowardice.

"Why? You ask me why?" she stood up and put her face in front of Harima's. Harima leaned a little backward and almost fell down but he managed to hold on to the counter. "Let me tell you why," she sat back on her chair and crossed her arms and legs, and said, "BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" This time, it was really, really loud.

Harima looked around and saw no one was there. It was already past 12 am and all the customers were already left. Good thing no one could hear her, except for him and the bartender.

"You…love…him?" Harima was really surprised. She didn't mean that, right? This maybe some kind of a mistake, he thought.

She put her hands on Harima's shoulders and she looked straight into Harima's eyes. "I spent 3 whole years looking for him. I've been all over the world just to find him. And I have no regrets in doing all that. You want to know why? Because I want to see him. I really, really want to see him," tears rolled down her cheeks. It was not the first he saw Eri cried like that. The bar suddenly became very quiet. Only the sound of Eri's sniffing could be heard.

"Hahahaha! What am I doing, telling some strangers about my love life?" her laugh broke the silent but Harima could see her tears still didn't stop. She sat back on her chair and raised her hand to order another drink but before she did, she collapsed on the bar counter.

"Hey, Ojou!" _Is she okay?_ Then Harima heard she snored. _She's just asleep, thank God. She really did make me worried a little just now._ Harima gave a sigh of relief.

"Kenji, you better take this young lady back to her place. She can't sleep here," the bartender said.

"But, I don't know which hotel she stayed. And I don't have my bike right now."

"She told me before that she stayed at NiiC Inn. It's only take 5 minutes walk from here. You know where it is, right? Just go straight along this road… " the bartender tried to show Harima the direction but Harima interrupted instead.

"It's okay. I know the place. Thanks anyway," Harima put some money on the counter as the payment for his drink. "This is not enough," the bartender said.

"Huh? But I have my usual."

"That young lady doesn't pay yet."

_What? She even said she wanted to pay for my drink. There goes my salary._ He took out some notes inside his rusty wallet and gave them to the bartender. The bartender just smiled. "Thank you," he said. Harima lift Eri onto his back and walked out from the bar as he heard the bartender said 'Come again' in a cheerful voice.

"I ended up paying for you. Now I don't know if my money is enough for me to eat before I get my next paycheck. You owe me, Ojou," Harima said to the unconscious Eri.

It was also not the first time he piggyback Eri. He even felt that she was lighter than the last time. Is she eating right? Maybe she's on diet, he thought.

Suddenly, Harima felt that Eri's hands that were placed around his neck were getting tighter. "You're awake, Ojou? I didn't mean anything, okay? I just want to take you back to your inn…"

"Don't leave me, Hige," she said with tears came out from her closed eyes. Harima heard that and put him into silent. He totally forgot the whole thing that just happened at the bar. He walked slowly with all the thoughts in his mind.

Finally, he stopped. He turned his head a little so he could see Eri's face and said, "I won't leave you. I promise." His mind was cleared. He didn't have any thoughts or doubts anymore. Tomorrow he will tell Eri how he really feels. He will end her 3-years-journey for good. "I promise you, Eri," he said as he walked under the starry sky, hoping that tomorrow will be a nice day for him to start a new purpose of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. This applied for the first chapter also which I forgot to do it.**

Eri woke up from her long sleep with a very severe headache. She looked at her watch and it showed 4 pm. She held her head with both hands, tried to recall things that happened. It all started two days ago. Nakamura came to her, giving her the news about Harima's whereabouts. She packed up immediately and flew to this town. This time, she went alone although Nakamura and Masaru offered themselves to come with her. "I need to do this by myself. Thank you for your help, both of you" she said. They respected their young mistress's decision. Her loyal butler, Nakamura and her maid, Masaru had helped her track down Harima ever since he left. They always there for her, followed her to the places where Harima could be but they failed every time. She should stop relied on them too much, she thought. She need to this on her own because she was very sure, this time she would meet him.

She arrived at the airport and took a taxi to finally come to the town. She found a hotel for her to stay for a few days, and then she went straight to the market. She was only wandering around to look for something to eat but suddenly, a figure caught up her eyes. The back of that person looked just like his. That person she saw wore a white T-shirt and ragged jeans. He has a broad shoulder and muscular arms and his hands which were put into the jeans pocket. She remembered how she used to admire the strong back of his at the time she stayed at Mikoto's place where she didn't know that it was actually Harima's. She chased the figure but it disappeared into the crowd. She felt so stupid because she knew she could just call out his name or his nickname at least but she didn't want to, afraid of being embarrassed if it was not the person she was looking for. She was so frustrated because she let her pride win, again. On the way back to her hotel, she found a bar and stopped by. "You're new here, aren't you?" the bartender asked as she sat at the counter. Then, they started to chat while she drank the tequila she ordered. After that, …

_After that, what happened?_

She couldn't remember anything. She tried to press her head as hard as she could but the memory didn't come out. Then she realized she wasn't at her hotel room and she was wearing a white night gown like the one she had back home, just this one was not silk. The room was small. It only had one window and it was opened. There was also a study table which was messed up by books and stationeries. She got up on her feet even though her head was still spinning. She went to the opened window to get some fresh air. She then noticed that she was on second floor of a double-storey building with a restaurant underneath. She looked at the street and saw a lot of people. There were kids playing hide and seek, a group of mothers gossiping among themselves and a businessman moved from one house to another to sell his things but it seemed he didn't get to sell them. She saw a group of girls in uniform, reminded her of her friends back in high school, and Harima. High school would make her think about Harima. Well, a lot of things happened between them during high school. He is the first man to accept her as she is and showed her how love can be sweet and bitter. She wanted to experience that feeling again, made that one of the reasons she had to find him.

"You're awake, dear?" Eri quickly turned around away from the window. A middle-aged lady was standing at the door carrying a tray with a plate of porridge and a glass of milk. "Sorry to surprise you," she said, looking at the surprised face of Eri. "It's okay. I don't mind," Eri replied. "I thought that you might be hungry," the lady tried to push aside that pile of books on the study table so she could placed the tray. "Let me help you with that," Eri offered to hold the tray for her so it would be easier for her to push all the books aside. "Thank you," she said. Eri then placed the tray on the clean side of the table.

"Eat it while it still hot," the lady said as she was leaving the room but Eri stopped her.

"Excuse me, ma'am. May I ask something?"

"If you want to know who change your clothes, it was me so you don't have to be afraid. The gown was my daughter's. It fits you, is it not?"

"Yeah, it fits me well but what I want to ask you is…"

"Your clothes are in the bathroom. I was thinking of washing it later. Is it fine with you?"

"No, it's okay. You don't have to wash them. What I really want to know is…"

"It was Kenji who brought you here. He said he found you collapsed at the bar. He tried to take you back to your inn but he got lost and brought you here instead. Is that the thing you wanted to know?" It was not coming from the lady but from a girl, with a short brown hair leaning to the door with her arms crossed. That girl was wearing the uniform Eri saw just now in the street.

"Erina, don't talk to our guest like that. Go change your school uniform and help your father in the kitchen," the lady said with her hands pointing outside the room.

But the girl just ignored her mother and walked towards Eri. "You think you are a little bit beautiful than me you can win Kenji's heart? Let me tell you something. Kenji is mine! Forever and ever. Don't you dare to lay your hand on him," she said with a stare straight into Eri's eyes. The girl was shorter than Eri so she had to look up to see Eri's face. "You maybe a little taller but I wont let you looked down on me!" she said and walked away. Eri didn't get to say a word.

"Erina!" the lady called the girl. "I'm so sorry about my daughter," the lady said and bow her head to Eri. "It's okay. It's okay," Eri said so that the lady wouldn't feel bad. "I just wanted to know where I can meet this Kenji. I wanted to thank him properly."

"His shift will start at seven. You can meet him by then. I'll bring you some change clothes later."

"Thank you," Eri said as the lady left the room.

Eri closed the door and sat on the bed, thinking.

Is this Kenji as in Harima Kenji? It could be, right?

She lay down on the bed looking at the ceiling. She really couldn't wait to see this Kenji guy that the girl was talking about. After these three years, is it finally come to an end? Is she finally going to meet him? There was a smile on her face before she fell asleep again, thinking she would feel again the happiness, the jealousy, the pain of being in love.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. It has been a long time since I wrote in English, so sorry for the grammatical problems.**

Eri woke up and realized it was already dark outside. The window had been closed and there was a red blouse and a pair of trousers on the table. It must be the lady, she thought. Her watch showed it was already 15 minutes past eight. This Kenji must be here already. She quickly changed her clothes and rushed downstairs.

The restaurant was full with people. "Erina, take this to table 3," she saw the lady with her hands full of food ready to be given to the customers. "Gotcha!" Erina replied, took the food and passed it to the customers. "Here you go," she said as he placed the food carefully on the customer's table. There was a big guy wearing a chef hat that Eri thought was the cook busy preparing the food. Then, she saw a person was washing the dishes. The person had the back, the one she saw at the market, the broad shoulder and muscular arms. "Kenji, hurry up with the plates. A lot of customers will come later and we need those," the chef shouted to that person. "Yes sir," he said. As he turned his head to place the plates on the rack, his eyes met Eri's who was still standing at the stairs. Eri could saw this Kenji's surprised face and his lips were muttering something like 'o-jo-u'.

"What a beautiful young lady! Care to join me for dinner?" one of the customers climbed the stairs and went to Eri. He tried to grab Eri's hand but the lady came and stopped him. "Sorry Joe but she's mine," the lady said. She pulled her down and gave her the food. "Sorry for making you do this but we're really short of hands here. Take these to table 14, will you?" she said and smiled. "Y-Yes, ma'am," Eri seemed like she couldn't resist and started to work.

It was 11.30 pm when finally all customers had left. Eri sat on one of the chairs, exhausted. She never had done any labor work or a part-time job before so she never knew how it really felt. Even though with all the sweat, she was glad to experience that.

"Sorry to drag you into this and thank you for the help," the lady said and gave her a glass of water.

"It was nothing. Thank you," she said as she took the glass. The lady then took a seat in front of her.

"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Serina and that is my daughter, Erina," she pointed to Erina who was sitting at the stairs looked very tired. "My husband, Seamo is the cook and the dishwasher is Kenji," she pointed to them who were in the kitchen.

Kenji. Eri felt really weird to pronounce Harima's first name. She never even called Harima by name. Hige is what she always called him and he called her Ojou. Suddenly she remembered about the times they always fight back in high school.

The flashback was then interrupted by the lady. "What's your name?" she asked. "Sorry, it was rude of me, I'm Eri. I should thank you and your family for the hospitality," Eri said and bowed her body. "It's okay. Glad we can help," Serina said.

"You have known Kenji before this?" Serina asked.

"Yeah, sort of. We used to be…er…classmates," Eri explained.

"Oh, really. It seems that both of you know each other pretty well. Or maybe both of you are more than just classmates?"

Eri suddenly coughed out the water that was already run through her throat. "We really didn't have that kind of relationship. Trust me,"

"It looks like Kenji has just finished his work. Kenji, come over her! Eri wants to talk to you," she shouted.

"I leave both of you alone, okay?" Serina said and left with a smile. What was that all about? Eri wondered.

Kenji came and took Serina's previous seat. As soon as Kenji sat in front of her, she felt her face blushed even though she could not see it. "So…umm…you're Hi-, I mean, Kenji?" she felt the weird feeling again.

"You still can't recognize me?" he said. Eri felt a little bit confused. Then she stared at his face for some time, tried to imagine Kenji's face with a beard and a moustache, sunglasses, shoulder-length hair and a hair band. He did look like…"Hige!" she shouted.

"Sshhhh! Don't be so surprised. How you can't recognize me? Am I that different from before?"

"Of course you look different. Why am I calling you hige at the first place? Now you don't have them. But I will still call you Hige, though, because it felt weird when I say the name K-E-N-J-I. And why they're called you that? Ashamed of your family name?"

"Bad mouth as ever. I introduced myself only as Kenji. Not Harima Kenji. By the way, what are you doing here in this town?"

Can she tell him about how she spent these three years and had been to various places in the world looking for him? And finally she got the news that he was here in this town and came here immediately? She can't tell him that. She really couldn't. She even didn't have the courage to tell him how glad she was to finally meet him.

"I…was… on vacation. You see, this town is beautiful and had become tourist attraction,"

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is. You should see the brochure but I left it at my hotel. Maybe later. Hahaha," she laughed and she didn't know why.

Harima sigh of disappointment. "What's with the sigh? You don't want me to be here, do you?" she sounded angry.

"No, it's just…"

"Kenji~. Good job for today." Erina came from the back and hugged his neck. "Are you tired? Want me to massage you?" she offered.

"No, Erina. Thanks…"

"I want to go back to my hotel!" Eri suddenly yelled. She looked irritated with her arms folded to her chest. Erina looked at her with disgust.

"Well, you've done your work here. You can go," Erina said with a grin on her face.

"I'll take you there," Harima said.

Both Eri and Erina were surprised.

"You don't have to Kenji. She can go by her own. You don't even know where her hotel is. You lost your way last time,"

"I already know where the hotel is. Besides, it's dangerous for a girl to walk by herself especially at this kind of time,"

Eri was surprised to hear Harima said that. She never knew that he was very concerned of her. Erina blew her cheeks make it look like balloons, to show that she couldn't accept Harima reasoning.

"Dad can take her there, right, dad?"

"Sorry honey but my hands are greasy and your mom will mad at me if I walk with a beautiful lady at night," the cook said.

"Sure I will, dear," Serina said with a smirk. She put her hands on her daughter's shoulder. "Let them go, honey. The hotel is the same way as his house, right Kenji?"

Harima nodded. Erina made a sulk-cute face of her before she stick her tongue out to Eri and ran upstairs.

"Let her be. She's just a baby. You have your bike, Kenji?" Serina asked.

"No, I walked. My bike still at the workshop,"

"Okay. Be careful both of you,"

"We will. Thanks again for everything," Eri said and bowed her body.

"It's okay. You even helped us today in the restaurant."

Serina and Seamo sent them both out. Serina shouted 'Come again' as both of them waving goodbye to the two. Eri waved back at them and both Eri and Harima walked under the light of the lamp posts.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. I like the picture of Harima and Eri was holding a baby in last chapter of School Rumble Z. That's how I get the idea of the story.**

Harima and Eri walked past the lamp posts that lighted up the street. Eri looked up but the sky was dark. The moon and stars were covered by the clouds. Eri turned to Harima. They have been silent since from the restaurant. She was too nervous to talk maybe because they were alone. She could feel her heart beat so fast she couldn't control it. _Oh, please don't betray me at a time like this, Heart._ She took a deep breath and exhale slowly, gathered all the courage she had and started to speak.

"Ermm…Hige…." She tried to say that as calm as she could. She didn't want to Harima to know that she was actually nervous.

"Hmm?" Harima said.

"So, how long have you been staying here?" Eri asked.

"A couple of months, sort of," Harima replied.

"Ooo..okay. Looks like you're doing fine here. You have a job and you even have your own place. That's pretty cool,"

"I think so,"

_What's wrong with him? Can't he make this into a conversation? This is not going anywhere._

Then she remembered something that she wanted to ask Harima about.

"What actually happen that night?"

Harima gulped. His face started to sweat. He almost thought that Eri already forgot all about it. "What night?" he said.

"You know, at the bar," Eri said.

"Ooooo…That night…Nothing. Nothing important for you to know,"

"It's okay. I still want to know, though,"

"Really, it was nothing. You'll get disappointed if I tell you about it because it really is nothing interesting," Harima tried to convinced her.

"Try to tell me about it. Let me tell by myself if it is interesting or not,"

_He was hiding something from me, isn't he?_

"Look, we're here already. That's your hotel, right?" Harima pointed to a small red building across the street. He really wanted to avoid answering the question.

"Come on, tell me about it," Eri didn't want to sleep that night without knowing why Harima insist not to tell her about that night at the bar.

"Look, I'm tired, okay. I want to go home and sleep. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, okay?"

"But,…"

"Oh yeah, speaking of tomorrow…" Harima interrupted before Eri got to say something. He took out a flyer from his pocket and gave it to Eri.

Eri read the title of the flyer. HARVEST FESTIVAL.

"Harvest Festival? But I don't see any farms here,"

"It was not really like that. It was meant for all people in the town who had work hard throughout the year. It was also for all people to gather and get to know each other. There will be food and drinks and music so it will be fun. So what do you say?"

"What do I say?"

"Wanna come?"

"Sure. It sounds fun,"

"Great. So I come to pick you up tomorrow,"

_He said what?_

"You want to come and pick me up? Here?"

"Yeah, where else. You need someone to show you around, right? So I come at seven, is that okay?"

"I guess,"

"Okay, see you tomorrow then. Bye,"

"Bye,"

Then he left.

Eri was still standing there, holding the flyer, smiling. She couldn't stop smiling since Harima left. She was so happy she really couldn't describe it with words. Harima just asked her out. She couldn't believe it herself. She lied on her bed, thinking of what to wear for tomorrow. She really couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

***

It was almost 7 pm but she still couldn't decide what to wear. She had gone through her luggage since morning. Her room was all messed up with the clothes lying all over the floor and bed. She almost called Nakamura to bring her dress but then she remembered her promise that she didn't want to trouble them. "Why I have to make things difficult over a small thing like this?" she said to herself loudly while browsing her clothes all over again.

Then she heard someone knocking at her door. "Ojou, are you in there?" She could recognize Harima's voice. "Just a minute," she said. She quickly grabbed her red-short-sleeves-collar shirt and black-knee-length skirt and put them on. She managed to apply some make up before she answered the door.

"Sorry for the waiting," she said as she opened the door.

"You better be, blondey." Eri recognize that voice, too. The voice that she didn't want to hear at a time like this.

It was Erina, clinging to Harima's muscular arm.

_What is she doing here?_

"I forgot to tell you that the three of us are going together since Boss and Serina left early to the festival to help for the preparation," Harima explained like he could read what Eri was thinking.

Erina looked at Eri with a grin and a face like she was telling Eri that I-will-not-let-you-be-alone-with-Kenji. Eri felt like she wanted to slap that cute face of her.

"So, come on. We should get going," Harima said.

"Yeah, let's go!" Erina said while pulling Harima's arm. Eri just followed them from the back, without saying anything where she was actually burning inside and could outburst anytime like an active volcano.

"Hurry up, blondey. Whose fault is it that we're already late?" Erina said.

Now Eri really, really felt like slapping that face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. Thanks to everyone who had read my story and make reviews about it. Arigatogozaimasu!!!**

Eri just followed them from the back, while her eyes locked to Erina who kept holding to Harima's arm all the way to the festival. They soon arrived without Eri knowing how long had they had been walking.

As soon as they arrived, a group of tough men came to them and carried Harima away and Erina went to join her friends, so Eri had been left alone at the entrance.

_That stupid Hige! How dare he left me here all by myself?_

"Eri!" A familiar voice was calling for her. She saw Serina waving at her and walked towards her.

"You're here! You must be hungry. Come and eat with us!"

"I'm not that hungry anymore," Eri said but it seemed Serina didn't here her and dragged Eri to a table full with food. She felt like some kind of all-you-can-eat-buffet with all various types of food on the table from a simple kind to very luxurious one but that still couldn't initiate Eri's appetite.

"Help yourself!" Serina said.

"O-okay," Eri ate some of the French fries to please Serina.

"Why do you eat so little? You're not hungry, are you?"

"Not really,"

"Are you sick? You don't look that well,"

"I'm fine, really,"

"Ooo, I know. This must be something about Kenji left you at the entrance all by yourself, right?"

Eri almost choked of the fries she tried to swallow.

"He….didn't leave me. He just…been carried by a group of … tough and muscular men. So, I don't know where he went,"

"Ooo, that must be his friends from the ship company. He works part-time there as a ship builder. He's pretty popular among them,"

"I thought he works at your place,"

"He works with us at night and the ship company in the morning till afternoon,"

"Wow, he works hard for money, isn't he?"

"Actually, he wants himself to get busy with works so that he could at least not to think about 'someone' that is hard for him to forget,"

"Oh, I see," Eri said with a sad expression on her face. She knew who Harima was referring to.

"You knew about it to?"

"Yeah. Because that 'someone' is a friend of mine. Best friend to be exact,"

Eri started to tell about Harima and Tenma. How Harima had loved her but Tenma had chosen someone else and went to America with him. How Harima wanted to forget about her so much that he went away without telling anyone about it.

"That's why you had come here to look for him?"

"I'm…not. I was…happened to be here. That's all," Eri tried to hide her stuttering by drinking a glass of juice.

"He told me the same story too. About that Tenma girl,"

"He did?"

"And you missed something,"

"I did?"

"He mentioned about this one girl. She was a rich and beautiful young lady. She never thought about anything else except for herself. She was popular among boys and many had told her their feelings but they all got turn down. She thought she was all high and mighty she can play with all the boys' feeling that confessed to her. At least, that's what he thought about her at first and turn out she is actually a very different person,"

There was a pause before Eri asked Serina again.

"So, this girl, actually what kind of person is she?" Eri asked curiously.

"It turned out that she is actually a very kind person,"

There was another pause.

"That's it? He told you that? Nothing else?"

"Yeah,"

Eri finished up her juice with a depressed feeling shown on her face.

"You look disappointed," Serina said while looking at Eri's face.

"No, I'm not," Eri tried to deny it.

"He did say that he really appreciate what the girl had told him. If she didn't appear that day, he might become the same old delinquent he used to be,"

What Serina just said had make Eri went deep into her thoughts. Does he really think like that? If he really is, why he ran away? After all these years, he can just tell me about it, Eri thought.

The conversation between them had stopped for a while before suddenly Serina started to speak again.

"Can I say something to you, Eri, if you don't mind?"

"Yeah, sure,"

"You better not waste your effort like that,"

"What…do you mean?"

"You had come all the way here, to finally meet him but it seems that you didn't take any action. Are you okay with that?"

"I…really don't understand what you mean,"

"I saw you the other day, when you were talking to him at the restaurant. You had that expression and that voice. It was love, wasn't it?"

Eri went speechless. Her face had turned very bright red. She really couldn't say anything to someone that had more experience about this matter.

"I don't know how long you had been looking for him and I don't care. He's now in front of you. Tell him your feeling. You might lose this chance and you'll be regretting it by that time. Be brave, Eri. Trust your instinct,"

Serina was right. Eri was scared. If she tells him her feeling, what might he said? What could be his answer? She is a woman with pride but she knows that she has to let her pride go this time so she will not live later in regrets. Regrets about things she couldn't do when the chances are there.

Eri finally made up her mind.

"I have to go and look for him. Thank you for the advice, Serina," Eri ran before Serina said 'You're welcome'. Serina just smiled while looking at Eri disappeared into the crowd.

Eri went all over the festival. She promised herself that this will be her final search for Harima, and a final confession.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble…**

"Kenji, this thing need to be put on the stage!"

"Okay!"

_There he is! Finally!_

Eri was panting really hard, exhausted from all the running. The town square, where the festival was held was really huge, it really took her a lot of time to finally find Harima. He was busy carrying things around for setting up the stage before he spotted Eri, who was looking so tired, breathing in and out one at a time.

"What are you doing here, Ojou?"

"Hige! I was looking all over for you! What are you doing here?"

"I'm helping them preparing for the stage. There will be bands performance later…Hey! You didn't answer my question!"

"I told you already, I was looking for you,"

"What for?"

Eri took a big gulp.

"I…need to tell you something. Can you listen to me for a sec?"

"Sure, but I need to finish up my work first,"

"Please, I need to tell you now!" Eri said while grabbing Harima's hand.

"Can't we do that after I finish my work?"

_I don't know if I will have the same strength and courage at that time._

"Please, I'm begging you,"

Harima hesitated for a while. "Okay, but be fast. My boss will get mad at me if I'm not doing my work,"

"I will. I promise,"

"So what is it?"

Eri's heart beat so fast she felt like it can explode any time.

"Actually, I…"

Suddenly, loud rock music was played through the speakers.

"Actually, I really like you,"

"HAA? WHAT DID YOU SAY? I CAN'T HEAR FROM ALL THIS NOISE!"

_Damn it, why they want to test the speaker at the time like this? But, this is a chance, right? I can tell him everything without him knowing what I told him. It's the same as a confession, just he won't know that I am actually confessing_

"Actually, I really like you. I had fall in love with you. After you went missing, I had spent so much time and money to look for you. For the past three years I had been searching for you. I hired a private investigator to look for any information about you. I even give up on being a hair stylist and become a stewardess instead so that I can go anywhere in the world and hoping that one day I will bump into you or something,"

"OJOU! I REALLY CAN'T HEAR YOU! MAYBE WE SHOULD TALK SOMEWHERE ELSE!"

"I was worried. I don't know if I can live without you. My dream is to be loved by someone who loves me as me. Not some guy who only like me because I'm beautiful. It was you. You're the first guy who actually saw the true me. You're also the first guy who had become friends with me not because of my beauty and I can only show my true self in front of you,"

There was a pool of tears inside Eri's eye.

"HEY! DON'T CRY WHEN I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU SAID!"

"I'M NOT CRYING! Besides, I just want to tell you my feeling that I have been kept all these years. Now, everything had come out and I don't know how to control it anymore,"

The tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"You helped me a lot back then. I really want you to see that there is somebody who watches over you, who will always there beside you, who always care for you. I really want you to look at me. You remember when I challenge you in that chest game? I really hope that you could…

The music stopped.

"…marry me and be together…"

Eri suddenly realized that and she had said that pretty loud to be hear by Harima and everyone else around them.

_Oh, my God. What did I just said? Why the music stopped at the time like this?_

Harima was in shock. He didn't know what to say after hearing that. Everyone started to talk among themselves.

"Is she for real?"

"She just asked Kenji to marry her."

"Who is she, anyway? I've never seen her before."

"I heard she was a princess from some country and Kenji's ex-girlfriend."

"I want a girl to propose to me too. I'm so jealous."

"Kenji is a lucky man, isn't he?"

_Oh, come on. This is all a big misunderstanding. How I want to clear this up? But, I want to know what Harima get to say._

Eri looked at Harima who was still looked confused of what just happened.

Someone pat Harima on the shoulder and said,"Kenji, come on. Don't jut stand there. She's waiting for you, man,"

"Yeah, Kenji. Just say 'yes'. For a beautiful girl like her to propose to you, you don't have to think about anything. Just say 'yes'." Some other guy pat Harima's other shoulder. Both of them must be Hige's colleagues from the ship company, Eri thought.

"So, what will you say, Kenji?"

YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI! YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI! YES! YES! KENJI! GO! GO! KENJI!

The crowd suddenly got excited.

"I…"

That single word from Harima had made the crowd went silent.

"Yes, I think I will marry you,…Ojou…" Harima's face turned red.

_What?_

Eri saw Erina in the crowd. She looked at Eri with angry eyes and tears coming out from them. She then turned away and left.

A guy took a microphone on the stage and spoke through it. "Can everybody hear that? Kenji said yes. So everybody is welcome to the wedding tomorrow that will be held in our town church. Kenji, as a dedicated worker of our company, your wedding will be sponsored by Kranky and Berg Ship Pvt. Ltd. So every one, let's party!"

A band suddenly appeared on the stage and performed their song. Every body started to dance, but Harima and Eri still looking at each other, couldn't believe of what just happened.

"Wait…" Eri just realized.

"The wedding is…" Harima also seems to just realize what the guy had just said on the stage.

"TOMORROW?" Both of them yelled with surprise.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. ^_^**

Harima was standing in front of the mirror at his apartment, looking at himself. He couldn't believe it. He was wearing a nice expensive-looking black tuxedo suit which was sponsored by his boss of the ship company and he really looked good in it. He knew he couldn't afford that kind of attire. He was also told that there will be a wedding party after the ceremony which also been sponsored. He asked his boss to not sponsored one thing. The ring. He took out the ring box inside his pocket and opened it. A pair of rings was in it. He went to buy them yesterday without knowing Eri's size. He felt pretty stupid for a moment.

_I hope it fits her. At least I was using my own money for the ring. So Ojou, don't complain about it or anything. She might babble about how cheap these things are. Well, she is a rich girl. She maybe scolds me for this and forces me to buy a new one. I don't have that kind of money like she has! Sorry for not being born rich!_

Then suddenly something had bothered his mind. He looked at the mirror again, wondered about it.

_What actually happened last night? Why I said yes? Why I'm not feeling angry with this? I even went all the trouble to buy the ring. Why?_

He sat on his bed, thinking about all the questions that he couldn't answered. "BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!" "Don't leave me, Hige." It had been replaying in his mind a thousand times since the incident at the bar and he didn't know why.

_Somebody, anybody. Please, tell me what is this feeling really means._

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! The loud knocks on the door surprised him. He rushed to the door. As he opened it, a boy was there, panting really hard like he was running from somewhere far. It was Milo, his boss's errand boy.

"Milo, what is it?" Harima asked.

"The bride…she…." The boy still couldn't stop panting.

"Try to relax. Tell me slowly," Harima said.

The boy took a deep breath and said," The bride…she's gone,"

"WHAT?"

The news really surprised Harima.

"Where did she go?" He asked desperately.

"We don't know. She was in the room in the church to get ready for the wedding. After a while, the boss told me to check up on her. When I went there, she just…disappeared."

"You don't have any idea where she went?"

"No. That's why boss told me to tell you. You might know. You're his man after all," the boy said.

Harima ran to his bike that he parked behind his apartment building. Even though he was already on the road, he didn't know where to go. He couldn't think of a place that Eri might be. She was new to the town and of course she didn't know about it that much.

_Where are you, Ojou?_

He went to places where he thought Eri might be. The place she knew. The bar, Seamo's restaurant, the town square. He even asked some locals if they had seen her but she was nowhere to be found.

Then suddenly something struck up his mind. He knew where Eri is.

There was a road connecting the town to a big city. Harima went there a few times before for business and sometimes having fun with his co-workers. Something told Harima that Eri would be there.

Before he reached the city, he saw a car at the side of the road. Smokes were coming out from the trunk. A lady with a waist-length hair was kicking the car. As he was getting closer, he heard the lady said, "Stupid car! Why you have to be broken now?"

The lady noticed him as he stopped his bike just behind the broken car.

"Hige!" She said.

"I knew I will find you here," Harima said confidently.

Eri's face blushed. "How do you know I was here?"

"Why did you run away?" Harima asked.

Eri just went into silent. Only the sound of the wind breeze can be heard. Eri really didn't know what to say.

"I…need to go back. My holiday's already over and I got to work on Monday."

"Today's Thursday and you're lying again."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"NO, I'M NOT!"

"YES, YOU ARE!"

It went on for some times until finally Eri said, "Okay, fine. I was only doing a favor for you. I know you don't even want to marry me. Last night was a mistake. A really big one. I was only said a few words and suddenly everybody misunderstood me. And you even said yes. I know you had to say that because all your friends are there and they told you to accept it. You've been force to marry me. That's why…that's why I ran away."

Harima listened quietly to Eri. He finally realized something, something that he should have realized a long time ago.

"Since you're here, can you give me a ride to the airport? My car's broken and I don't want to miss my flight," Eri said.

"Oh, I give you a ride," Harima said suspiciously.

"What the..? Ahh!" Harima grabbed Eri's waist and carried her on his shoulder and put her on his bike. He immediately started the engine and drive as fast as he can.

"Hey, Hige! You're going to the wrong direction. I'm not going back to the town. I want to go to the airport in the city!" Eri screamed from Harima's back.

"Don't try to talk! You might bite your tongue! Just hold on tight!" Harima pressed on the engine even more and they went even faster. Eri didn't have any choice other than hold on to Harima's waist very tightly.

"Why did you bring me here?" Eri asked as Harima stopped his bike in front of the church where their wedding supposed to be held. "The bride and groom are here!" Everybody cheered as they arrived. Harima grabbed Eri's wrist and walked towards the people in the church. "Hige, that hurt!" Eri said as she tried to loose up Harima's grab from her wrist. "Sorry," Harima said while loosening his grab a little, "but I really don't want to let you go this time."

Eri's heart suddenly beat really fast and her face turned red. _What's that supposed to mean?_

"I apologize for all the troubles. There is something I need to tell to everybody," Harima announced. Everyone in the church gave their full attention to Harima.

"Three years ago, my heart had been broken. The girl I loved had chosen somebody else over me. Her love to him is pure so I don't have any choice than to let her go. I've turned to my former self. A delinquent. I was so frustrated that I can't really accept what had happened. I went to kick and punch people like I used to but it didn't make me feel any better. Then, this girl here, she had come to me. She told me that everybody had their own problem and this is not the way to settle it. You have to be strong for those who care about you, she said. So, I went for a journey to find this strength that I need. And I found it here in this town where everybody is so kind to me and that's why I decided to stay here."

"But what I didn't realize is… I had my strength from the very beginning. And that is…this girl," Harima said while looking at Eri's face and their eyes met. Eri was really shocked to hear that and her heart had beaten even faster.

Harima turned back to the people and said, "Last night wasn't any mistake. This girl had proposed to me and I accepted it. It's not because my friends told me to or any of you told me to. It was because…. I love her."

Everyone went into silent before somebody started to clap and followed by everyone else. There were some people who had tears in their eyes. So did Eri. She really couldn't believe what she just heard from Harima's mouth.

Harima turned to her and smiled.

This really feels like a dream, Eri thought.

Or is it?


	8. End

It was, wasn't it?

Eri woke up from her sleep and found herself on the bed in her hotel room. She looked around and saw nobody. Only her luggage was standing still behind the door. She was alone.

_I knew it was too good to be true. There's no way Hige would love me. It's all just another nice dream I had. But, where did this dream start? I think it's probably when Hige found me with my broken car when I was trying to run away. Or maybe when he dragged me to the church and told everyone he loves me. Or maybe when we had the wedding ceremony after that? Which is it?_

Eri was confused. She felt like she wanted to continue her sleep. As she was pulling up her blanket, she noticed something was glittered at her left ring finger. She looked at it very closely. She blinked a few times. She really couldn't believe her eyes.

"Wake up, sleepy head! It's noon already!" said a man who was standing at the door carrying a tray with a pancake and a glass of orange juice on it. Eri knew that voice really well.

"I'm awake, okay. I'm…just…sitting here for a while,"

"You're head still hurt?" Harima said while putting the tray on a small table beside the bed. He sat on the bed next to Eri. Her face blushed. "I brought you breakfast. But I think I should say it's lunch."

"It's not even noon yet. It's only 11.45 AM," she said with an angry tone. "But…, my head did feel a little bit spinning," Eri said while putting her hand on her temple even though she didn't feel like that.

"Really? You're pretty drunk last night. As if you're feeling depressed of marrying me,"

_So it's true._

"No, I'm not. I feel…happy. Very happy."

Eri could see Harima's face turned red after she said that. He turned his face from Eri, like he didn't want Eri to see it. "Oh, that's…great then," he said shyly.

They went silent for a while before Harima asked," The ring…it fits you, right?"

"Yeah. It fits perfectly," Eri said while showing her hand to Harima.

Harima hold her hand and looked at the ring Eri wore. Her face blushed again," To tell you the truth, when I bought this ring, I don't even know your size," he said.

"You're kidding?" she said surprisingly.

"No, I'm not. It caught my eye first when I entered the shop. Guess I'm pretty good at this, huh?" he said proudly and still holding her hand.

"But it looks pretty cheap to me,"

Harima frowned. He let go of her hand and looked at Eri seriously, "Sorry about that, okay! I…I promise I will work hard and buy you a better one later. But right now I really don't have the money."

Eri smiled. It was the brightest smile she ever had. She never felt so happy of her entire life. One thing she was sure about that this was not a dream and it will never be.

Without she realized it, she had hugged him.

"It's okay. This is the most expensive ring I ever wear and I will treasure it all my life."

She paused but she still hugging Harima.

"I love you, Hige," she whispered into his ear. Tears coming out from her eyes but this time they are tears of joy.

Harima was shocked at first of the sudden hug from Eri but then he hugged her back. With a slight smile on his face, he whispered softly,

"I love you too, Eri."

**THE END**

**Disclaimer: I do not own School Rumble. Thank you for those who had followed my story till the end. Thanks for the reviews too. I will try to write again maybe in the near future. If I've got some ideas to write, of course. Just wait for it, okay minna! Bye for now!**


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